Cake and photo by DGS40, Premium Member © Sarah Phillips
This cake has a great nutty texture from its whole wheat flour and intense espresso taste from its flavoring.
CAKE RECIPE HELP
DGS40, Premium Member, Says: “The angel food cake is wonderful!!! The aroma it added in the house while baking wasn't bad either!”
INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour; spoon into measuring cup and level to rim
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
12 large egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Position an oven shelf in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
Blend together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons espresso powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix remaining 1 tablespoon espresso powder with 1 teaspoon hot water. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl or standing mixer, beat egg whites on low until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Increase mixer speed to high until soft peaks form.
Add remaining 1 cup sugar slowly at the side of the bowl, and beat until egg whites are firm but not dry. Beat in liquid espresso mixture.
4. Sprinkle 1/3 of flour mixture evenly onto the egg whites and, with a large rubber spatula, gently fold into whites.
Add remaining flour in 2 batches, folding in gently after each addition. Turn batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom.
5. Bake until nicely browned, about 50 to 60 minutes.
The cake will rise and sometimes even rise above the edge of the pan. It is done when you see no moisture beads in the cracks on the surface and the top is golden brown.
SARAH SAYS: As long as an Angel Food Cake cake “sings” in the oven, it is really the eggs releasing steam and is not done. When the “singing” stops and the cake is nicely browned and springy to the touch, take it from the oven. Also, Angel food cakes will not shrink from the sides of the pan as other cakes do when baked, and the cracks in its crust should be a tad moist, but not damp batter.
6. When done baking, remove the cake from the oven and immediately turn the pan over the neck of a neck of a soda or wine bottle, or funnel, which I prefer to use – it is more stable than a bottle.
SARAH SAYS: Do not use the little tabs on top of the pan to rest the cake on to cool; it will not raise the cake high enough from the countertop to cool and will cause condensation to form on top of the cake. This will cause a sticky cake top!
Proper cooling is just as important as baking. The cake is inverted in its pan to cool which prevents its structure from shrinking or falling, giving it the open texture that's characteristic of these cakes. If placed to cool on a rack, it would deflate much of that hard-earned volume.
7. When the cake has thoroughly cooled, have the plate you will serve the cake on ready to go.
When cool, gently loosen the sides of cake with a thin-bladed, flexible knife, moving the knife firmly in one direction; do not use a sawing motion otherwise you will gouge or scrape some of the crust off the side of the cake.
A. Slowly trace around the perimeter of the inner tube with a thin-bladed knife, scraping against the pan rather than the cake.
B. Then, slowly trace around the perimeter of the pan with a knife, scraping against the pan rather than the cake.
C. When loose, push up the bottom to remove the cake from the outer ring. The central tube will be attached. Cover the cake with a serving plate, and at the same time holding both, invert the cake onto the plate. With a thin-bladed, flexible knife, carefully trace around the bottom of the pan and the cake. It will simply fall onto the plate. Lift the bottom and inner tube from the cake.
The finished cake should be tender, not mushy.
When you cut it, use a serrated knife and make small, quick sawing motions.
STORAGE
Angel Food Cakes don't store well because they become sticky from the high amounts of sugar and egg whites. However, store your cake at room temperature for a couple of days at most, covered in plastic wrap. In humid weather the cake will become especially sticky. You can freeze Angel Food Cakes, but their texture and flavor will suffer. Upon thawing, the cake will be more dense and not as flavorful..
Nutritional Information per serving
CALORIES 117(1% from fat); FAT 0.1g (sat 0.0g); PROTEIN 3.5g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; SODIUM 77mg; FIBER 1g; CARBOHYDRATE 25g
Cake and photo by DGS40, Premium Member © Sarah Phillips
